[Study of structural heterogeneity of polymerized hemoglobin using biochemical and immunochemical methods]

The structural heterogeneity of crosslinked pyridoxalated hemoglobin (polyHb-PLP) have been investigated by the methods of gel-filtration, isoelectric focusing and immunoelectrophoresis. It was established that the heterogeneity of poly-Hb-PLP is mainly depicted by polydispersion of molecular weight and less by the changes in the isoelectric properties. The qualitative difference has been shown between the immunochemical properties of the native hemoglobin and poly-Hb-PLP, which gives the suggestion of the formation of new antigenic determinants as a result of chemical modification and of more expressed antigenicity of modified hemoglobin compared with native protein. Poly-Hb-PLP has wide antigenic spectrum that corresponds to its structural heterogeneity. The data obtained suggest that the decrease in the antigenic activity of poly-Hb-PLP can be achieved by the lowering of the part of high molecular weight components.